Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1138762
utive Big Ten title in the 800, finishing in a meet-record time of 2:03.45. And she followed it up by claiming Big Ten outdoor titles in the 800 and 1,500. HONORABLE MENTION Ally McHugh swimming and diving | Be- came Penn State's first national champion in women's swim- ming and diving, claiming the 1,650-yard freestyle title by finishing in 15 minutes, 39.22 seconds in her final college race... Zara Moss fencing | Finished as the NCAA runner-up in the women's saber competition for the second year in a row... Teniya Page basketball | Averaged 19.2 points per game, winning hon- orable mention All-America honors for the second year and be- coming only the sixth Lady Lion player to surpass 2,000 career points… Kaleigh Riehl soccer | Received first-team All-America honors for her role in a PSU defense that allowed only 13 goals all season and posted 14 shutouts… Kendall White volleyball | Set a Penn State record for most digs in a season (558), winning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors and becoming the first PSU libero to be named a first-team All-American. COACH OF THE YEAR CAEL SANDERSON WRESTLING At this point, you really have to start wondering about Sanderson's place in history. Not just Penn State history, but the broader history of collegiate wrestling. He's 40 years old, and he's won eight national championships in his 10 seasons with the Nittany Lions, including the past four NCAA titles in a row. Sanderson has nearly caught up with Edward Gallagher, who coached Oklahoma State (Oklahoma A&M at the time) to nine NCAA titles from the late 1920s through 1940. He's starting to creep up on the legendary Dan Gable, who won 15 champi- onships at Iowa from 1976-97. Thanks to Sanderson, his staff, and a parade of elite wrestlers, Penn State has moved into third place in total NCAA team championships with nine. Oklahoma State is first with 34, while Iowa is second with 23. It's possible that no one will ever catch the Cowboys, and nobody is passing the Hawkeyes any- time soon, either. But who's to say what the long-term future holds? With Sanderson in charge, there's no indication that Penn State's dynastic rule is even close to ending. HONORABLE MENTION Erica Dambach women's soccer | Led Penn State to its 19th Big Ten regular-season title, claiming the league's Coach of the Year honor for the fourth time… Randy Jepson men's gymnastics | Was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth time after leading the Lions to their first confer- ence championship since 2015… Russ Rose women's volleyball | Coached the Nittany Lions to a 26-8 record and a spot in the NCAA regional finals in his 40th season in charge of the PSU program… Jeff Tambroni men's lacrosse | Guided the Nittany Lions to the winningest season in the program's history (16-2), as well as the Big Ten regular-season and tournament champi- onships and a first-ever appearance in the NCAA final four… Jeff Zinn men's tennis | Was named the Atlantic Region Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year after leading the Lions to only the third 20-win season in school history (20-9). MALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR K.J. HAMLER FOOTBALL The excitement was building for Hamler even before he had played a single snap for the Nittany Lions. The redshirt freshman receiver had wowed teammates and coaches in practice, prompt- ing James Franklin to note during spring practice that he was "probably the buzz of the camp right now." It took exactly one game for Hamler to make good on all that hype. Against Ap- palachian State, he totaled 119 all-purpose yards, including a 52- yard kickoff return late in the fourth quarter and a 15-yard touchdown catch with 42 seconds left that sent the game to over- time and set the stage for an eventual Nittany Lion victory. Hamler went on to set a Penn State freshman record with 1,417 all-purpose yards, eclipsing Saquon Barkley's 1,237-yard performance in 2015. Included in that total were a team-high 754 receiving yards on 42 catches. HONORABLE MENTION Roman Bravo-Young wrestling | Went 25- 7 at 133 pounds and claimed All-America honors with an eighth- place finish at the NCAA tournament… Myles Dread basketball | Started 28 games and ranked fourth on the team with an 8.3- point scoring average… Pat Freiermuth football | Finished with 26 catches for 368 yards and scored a team-high eight receiving touchdowns… Micah Parsons football | Led the Lions with 83 total tackles… Jeremy Rafanello soccer | Finished with a team-high seven points on three goals and an assist and received Big Ten All-Freshman honors. FEMALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR JONNI PARKER VOLLEYBALL Russ Rose has been recruiting at a high level for a few decades now, so it's no surprise when he brings in award-worthy fresh- men. But Parker, a right side hitter from Casstown, Ohio, was still caught off-guard when she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. "I think it's a crazy accomplishment," she told Go- PSUsports.com, "just because this year's freshman class across the Big Ten had such a huge impact." That's no doubt true, but there was nothing fluky about Parker's debut season. She led the Nittany Lions in points with 421.5 and kills with 351, and in addition to her conference hon- ors, she was named a third-team AVCA All-American. HONORABLE MENTION Jessica Adolfsson ice hockey | Finished with four goals and seven assists and made the CHA All-Rookie team… Chelsea Bisi softball | Led the Nittany Lions in RBIs, win- ning Big Ten All-Freshman honors… Kaitlyn Hord volleyball | Had a team-best hitting percentage of .383 and won second-team All-Big Ten honors… Julia Paternain cross country | Finished 10th at the league championship meet, earning second-team All-Big Ten recognition… Anna Simon field hockey | Started 18 games and led the Lions with 13 goals. ■